The Animal That Can Reason
by SlasherBear
Summary: The Most Dangerous Game rewritten ending. What if the hunt never happened? How would it be if Rainsford never fell off the yacht? What would happen if it was all an illusion? What would it be like if Rainsford never became the hunted and instead stayed as the hunter? ONESHOT


**AN: YAY! I'm writing again! It took me an English assignment to remind me how much fun writing these are and this won the class contest for most creative ending so might as well share it online. Oh, and this is a fanfiction for "The Most Dangerous Game" which is actually a really good book and is definitely a book worth reading! ANYWAY, ENJOY!**

* * *

"It's so dark," he thought, "That I could sleep without closing my eyes; the night would be my eyelids." He wasn't too sure but he thought he heard a faint gunshot before he dozed off.

" _On guard, Rainsford..."_

"Rainsford!" The hunter awoke to the sun flashing in his eyes and fell off his steamer chair. He couldn't really see well since his morning vision wasn't used to the sun yet. All he saw a shadow with light shining behind it and was reaching towards him. Still not fully awake yet, Rainsford grabbed the throat of the figure angrily, determined to kill the general. The figure stumbled back towards the railing and they both fell over the railing into the ocean. The hunter blacked out as soon as he sunk into the water.

Once Rainsford regained conscious, he found himself in a dimly lit room. He realized of the headache he had and rubbed his temples. His hands brushed slightly against his hair and pulled his hand back. Then he felt his hair, purposely this time, and felt the dampness of it. Rainsford tried to remember what had happened to cause his hair to be moist. He couldn't recall anything but then the general showed up in his mind. The image of the general caused him to lift his head but then lowering after what felt like a tidal wave of drowsiness had just engulfed his brain. He groaned and after a few minutes of waiting for the motion sickness to pass, he finally sat up, waited a few moments and looked around. Rainsford hoped to find a clue that would give him an idea of his location. Then a horrible idea came to his mind. What if Ivan was about to decide his fate? No, he thought. Ivan was dead. He's not coming back. He can't come back. Then where am I, he thought. He stood once his eyes adjusted to the dark and studied his surroundings. His eyes lands on a door on the other side of the room. He cautiously took a step and continued walking. He then grabbed the smooth silver knob and opened the door that led him to a familiar hallway. Out of instinct, he walked to the left til he found himself standing in front of a stairway. The hunter climbed the steps and open the door at the top which let in a familiar light. As he walked on deck and stared out onto the deep vibrant blue of the ocean, Rainsford finally realized the cause of his drenched hair but still wondered about everything else. Did he survive the hunt? Where's the island? How did he find himself on a boat? Where are they going? Where's the general?

"Rainsford, it seems you're awake." The sound that interrupted the silence of the day caused said person to quickly turn and face the owner of the voice with his fists clenched in front of him, ready for any attack that comes his way. He made contact with the familiar fishy blue eyes of Captain Neilson.

"Captain" was all Rainsford could force out with a hoarse voice due to lack of use. The captain had caught the hunter by surprise resulting in him lowering his fists and widening his eyes.

"It's nice to see you got some rest after almost drowning" The captain then walked around him and stood behind him to stare at the calming waves. Rainsford was confused. "Drowning?" he asked, not turning around.

"Yes sir, your buddy's fine though." Now Rainsford was more confused. "He just woke up about an hour ago claiming he didn't know the cause of your actions, it still baffles me why he would want to risk his life for someone who tried to take his."

"You're not making any sense." Rainsford stated, now staring at the floor starting to piece together what had happened.

The captain slowly chuckled. "You can't say you don't remember," He faced towards the other man, but he kept his position. "You grabbed Whitney by the throat and push him off the rail and went along with him."

The hunter lifted his head at the name of his friend and turned. "I tried to... kill Whitney?" asked the young man afraid of the answer.

"Correct, but you lost consciousness and he insisted my crew to save you first." Rainsford looked to his left and walked to the rail to continue watching the beautiful color of the salt water. "How much longer til our destination?"

Skeptical but unconcerned, Captain Neilson responded, "Only a few hours til Rio" and returned to captain's quarters not questioning the change in subject.

Only a few hours, Rainsford thought. They won't be needed anymore; they'll sure be fun to play with. Poor, merciful Whitney must go along. Clearly he's not difficult to take down; he's too weak for him, for them. Somewhere nearby, there's a weapon in the bottom shelf of a cabinet in a room on the third level. Sometime nearby, there will be blood of the many animals that were able to reason but didn't. Rainsford will prove to the weak that life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and to be taken... by... the strong. As someone once told him, "Instinct is no match for reason."

* * *

 **AN: Also, this is a one-shot, if you didn't know, so I'm not posting more chapters and for anyone who's asking, I will continue my other story "A Dark Sunset" in the next couple of weeks and will start posting other stories as well. BYE!**


End file.
